Hi, can anybody with some deeper insight in oil trading enlighten me a bit what the reasons for the the current spread in the Brent and the WTI are. Also, where does the mini-backwardation in CL result from? Is there any major US oil contract other than WTI that could be used as a proxy?Cheers, C

QuoteHi, can anybody with some deeper insight in oil trading enlighten me a bit what the reasons for the the current spread in the Brent and the WTI are.trading the spread (Short Brent, Long WTI) might be a good idea on these days ... some think than london brent is a better marker of international demand than WTI, and it (london brent) tends to react faster to economic news.the latter is better seen as reflecting US demand.and we've seen positive economic data/indicators in the US and in Europe as well.major world indexes have performed pretty well, have they ?QuoteAlso, where does the mini-backwardation in CL result from?do you you disagree with the current CL price structure ? QuoteIs there any major US oil contract other than WTI that could be used as a proxy?you should draw a correlation matrix using the historical data of 50 different world oil markets from the EIA's historical data (http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_pri_wco_k_w.htm) .

google "Brent-WTI spread broken: analyst"